If you're in lockdown mode with the family this weekend, one good way to escape is to hop in the car and cruise around town for an hour. But why restrict your needed liberty to the ground, when you could zoom around the air in a flying saucer?
I based this concept on the vehicles from The Jetsons TV show, but this way of getting around isn't so fictional: In May, Franky Zapata took his jet-powered "Flyboard" 90 feet in the air, at 55 miles an hour. If he's right in saying it could hit 100 mph and reach 10,000 feet, then a practical application of this technology can't be too far off.
My take on the idea, the Jexet, would be the size of a small car, with room for one person. Five jet thrusters sitting under the fuselage, with fuel tanks built into the frame on opposing sides, would provide the power for vertical takeoffs and landings, plus horizontal flight.
An onboard system would help control and stabilize the Jexet in flight, but the human inside would need some training to fly the thing and understand aerodynamics and aviation regulations.
LED landing lights, built-in navigation, and an easy-to-read dashboard would make it easier to zip around. Backup thrusters, interior and exterior airbags, and a parachute could combine to keep everybody safe in case of problems.
Uber says it wants to help create a world of flying cars, but needs other players to make the technology happen. So maybe the Jexet has a place in the sky after all.
I'd like to thank Adolfo Esquivel, the Montreal-based freelance industrial designer who created the renderings of the Jexet.
